Volkswagen is dead set on making the next-generation Golf fully electric. The EV is scheduled to arrive closer to the end of the decade. Does that mean today’s car with combustion engines has only about five years to live? Not necessarily. The man in charge of the company’s technical development division claims the Mk8 could soldier on until the middle of the next decade. Yes, another 11 years.

Speaking with the Dutch side of Top Gear magazine, Kai Grünitz claims the current Golf might remain in production until 2035. That’s the year when the sales ban on new cars with harmful emissions will come into effect in countries part of the European Union. Vehicles with combustion engines might still be in showrooms after that but only if they’ll be compatible with carbon-neutral synthetic fuels.  

The underpinnings of the current Golf are actually older than you might remember. The Mk8 did come out in late 2019 but its MQB platform dates back to the Mk7 launched in 2012. This is not without precedent. When you think about it, the sixth-gen Golf was essentially a heavy facelift of the previous generation model.

The Mk5 was launched in 2003 while the Mk6–built on the same PQ35 platform–was retired in 2012. Technically, the Mk6 was sold until 2016 when the Golf Cabriolet was discontinued. Doing the math, that’s a 13-year life cycle. The MQB architecture will match that in only a year from now.

Talking strictly about the Golf Mk8, Grünitz touts it represents “MQB perfection,” so there’s no reason to develop a new one. He admitted the current compact car had a rocky start due to software gremlins, but the issues have been ironed out. These teething problems–which also impacted sister cars Skoda Octavia, SEAT Leon, and Audi A3–are now gone, or so he says.

The Golf recently went through a facelift but we’re now beginning to doubt it was a mid-cycle update. If VW intends to have the car around for another 11 years, surely there will be at least one more refresh? Ideally, they’ll put the stick shift back in the GTI and R. While they’re at it, bring the R wagon to the US and “fix” the design. More physical buttons wouldn’t hurt either. Of course, that’s just wishful thinking on our part. It’s worth mentioning the not-for-America regular Golf versions still have a six-speed manual gearbox.

Grünitz claims the Golf could still be retired before 2035, not necessarily because of emissions regulations. VW Group brand Porsche killed the Macan and 718 Boxster/Cayman in the EU because these cars failed to comply with new cybersecurity legislation that came into effect earlier this month. It would’ve been too expensive to work on the crossover and sports cars to comply with the new law, so Porsche decided to just pull the plug. VW might take a similar approach if future regulations prove to be prohibitively expensive to comply with.

Even if the Golf Mk8 will stick around until 2035, the 15-year life cycle still wouldn’t be the longest for a Golf. The Mk1 launched in 1974 was superseded by the Mk2 in the 1980s but VW built an Mk1-based Citi Golf from 1984 until 2009, giving it an impressive 25-year run. Well, 35 years if we take into account the original Golf. The Citi Golf is this little guy below.

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